As part of her post-doctoral studies Anamaria Iuga has been researching the traditions connected to fânul (the making of hay) in the village of Şurdeşti. This is an aspect of Romania’s rural heritage that is on the verge of disappearance. Up until now haymaking has been part of the peasants’ everyday life: they rely on it to feed their livestock through the winter and it has enabled them to survive without buying in expensive, artificial food substitutes. Everyone takes part in the work so it‘s usually a very social as well as sometimes back-breaking activity.
Anamaria discovered that the farmers attach great importance not only to the quality of the grass but to the size and shape of the claie (haystacks). In Şurdeşti, the church bells are rung to summon people to the fields and to send them home at night. The haymaking season is governed by strict rules which dictate that working on certain saints’ days is forbidden. A local legend says that a man who ignored the rules was punished by having all his haystacks turned to stone.
With help from several independent sponsors, Anamaria has recently published these and many more engaging findings in two booklets. Entitled Povestea fânului (The Way of Hay, 2006), and Udătoriul (an ancient agrarian custom, 2006), they have parallel English and Romanian texts and are available from Editura Cybela, Baia Mare, e-mail artizanat@rdslink.ro, visit www.artizanat.org, or write to Fundaţia IUGA, Centrul de Informare Patrimoniu Rural Maramureşean, Maramureş, Romania, Şurdeşti nr 30A.
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